Russia's Briefcase Nuclear Weapons

In May and September 1997, Alexander Lebed, a former Soviet army general who served in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, made several statements regarding the loss of many, possibly more than 100, briefcase sized nuclear weapons. He said the nukes were built to be transported like a large briefcase or a suitcase and could be armed by a single individual given only thirty minutes time. The nukes purportedly had a thermodynamic work energy rating of about one kiloton, by comparison, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in August 1945, had a rating of 13 kilotons.

While serving as Boris Yeltsin’s National Security Advisor Lebed began a search to account for these bombs. He claimed that an unknown number of these bombs had been produced under orders from the Soviet GRU several years prior to his 1997 disclosure, and were intended for use in guerrilla or terrorist warfare. They had been assigned to units of the GRU, and upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, according to General Lebed, simply went missing. His search resulted in his belief that more than 100 of those nuclear weapons had disappeared and could not be accounted for.

[GRU is an anglicized acronym for the Russian translation of Main Intelligence Directorate – the Soviet Union’s main intelligence apparatus which was notorious for having a mind of its own. During the Soviet era the GRU supervised the KGB and had branches and units assigned to a large number of Soviet embassies and consulates around the world. The GRU was an international intelligence collection machine which operated covertly on a global scale. Its very existence was so secret that during the Soviet era, only people within intelligence circles even recognized it as a Soviet intelligence entity.]

Shortly after his assertion that these weapons were unaccounted for, the Russian government denied even the existence of such weapons. Their denial changed over time from utter revulsion at the claim, to a passive admission that the bombs did exist but that they were all fully accounted for. The Russian government then began to put Lebed’s credibility into question, suggesting he recently had been fired from his post as Yeltsin’s National Security Advisor (October 1996) and he had lost the presidential election not long before that.

The American State Department publicly announced that they “believed” the Russian officials which assured the State Department that all the nuclear arms in Russia’s arsenal were accounted for. The Soviet government, being the master of cloak and dagger, of deceit, and of misinformation, would obviously be a reliable source for such potentially lethal information. It would most certainly have admitted to the world that it had just up-n-lost 100 of the most deadly weapons ever known.

In October 1997, Lebed testified before the United States Congress about the existence of these devices and his testimony was corroborated by testimony and writings of several other notable Soviet defectors. Not long after this whole “briefcase nuke” affair blew over in the public eye, General Lebed came under investigation for revealing state secrets.

In January 2000, as well as in a book published in 1998, a recent defector by the name of Stanislav Lunev, a former colonel in the GRU made some claims substantiating what Lebed had reported. He stated, “Though most Americans don’t realize it, America is already penetrated by Russian military intelligence to the extent that arms caches lie in wait for use by Russian special forces – or Spetznatz. [These Russian special forces] troops are currently inside the United States. They regularly enter the country as foreign tourists, using fake passports and their knowledge of foreign languages to pass as Germans or Eastern Europeans. One of the GRUs major tasks is to find drop sites for their [weaponry] including …the so called “suitcase bombs.” Lunev further stated that the number of devises Lebed had claimed were “missing” was “almost identical to the number of ‘strategic targets’ upon which those bombs would be used. It is likely these weapons were deployed before Lebed looked into the matter.”

Soon after his initial defection and revelation of this information, Lunev went into the FBI’s witness protection program for fear of assassination. It is Ironic that Lebed, having returned to Russia following his testimony to the United States Congress, died in an “accidental” helicopter crash in the Krasnoyarsk region of Russia along with several of his staff members.

I am convinced that these nukes exist. To what ends they might be used is a Pandora’s box which I believe deserves careful consideration by our nation’s intelligence community (if there wasn’t a full investigation already under way into the location of these weapons by our American intelligence apparatus I would be utterly surprised and dismayed). That they may be deposited at strategically important locations throughout the United States is certainly debatable. A more believable conclusion would be that some Jihadist organization may have purchased or stolen one or more of these weapons and they are in the process of delivering it for future use. If they have already been delivered as Mr. Lunev suggests, it would be simple to sell the exact location to such a group rather than do a material swap of the weapon itself.

I would be hesitant to believe that America has been over-run by the Spetznatz, as suggested by Mr. Lunev but in the arena of national security one must always be prepared to expect the unexpected and believe the unbelievable in the name of protecting the American public, especially in the face of such a sophisticated and knowledgeable enemy. In any case, the suggestion that these briefcase nukes may be out there and unaccounted for is significant cause for concern, even alarm.

Read about Russia's Decaying & Vulnerable Nuclear Arsenal

Accountability of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal

The arsenal of nuclear weapons belonging to the Russian Federation has been a topic of concern to the United States and the west since the fall of the Soviet empire. The economic collapse that took place in the 1990s is largely to blame for the deteriorating and perceived unreliability of the systems and facilities used to house and protect this vast arsenal. The economic element accounts for international concern about the personnel responsible for the handling and maintenance of the stockpile as well. With the era of global terror ahead of us and the era of nuclear annihilation seemingly behind us, the decayed and corrupt system in which the old Soviet stockpile of nuclear weapons is entrusted seems at best, vulnerable, at worse, disastrous.

The impact of the economic depression of the 1990s on the Russian Federation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons is near incalculable. Although extensive and comprehensive measures are and always have been taken to keep the arsenal secure and out of the wrong hands, the facilities in which these weapons are housed are several decades old and in decrepit condition in most cases. The entity charged with the storage and protection of this nuclear arsenal is known as the 12th Main Directorate. This directorate has been under funded since the Soviet collapse and its facilities have accordingly gone without repair and upgrading. I spent a few years in Russia in the mid 1990s and I can picture the old and dilapidated concrete structures with rusted steel reinforcements showing through cracked and crumbling exteriors. I recall seeing an old Soviet military facility in Romania where the fencing intended to keep people out was decayed and patchy and the only thing it might have been successful at keeping out may have been an American tourist who was too fearful of the Soviet stereotype to venture inside (I’m also envisioning some old babushka sweeping snow off the porch of this nuclear storage facility with a homemade broom).

The accountability, security, and physical protection systems in place are likewise decades old and the 12th Main has consistently lacked funds to purchase, install and manage state of the art, or even second hand, computerized accountability and security systems. A former commander of the 12th Main boasted in the late 1990s that the security systems in place had been perfected over several decades and that there has never been a significant breach in security nor major accident with nuclear weapons under the 12th Main’s watch. First, that the systems are several decades old is serious cause for concern, and second, with a perfect record over a several decade span, the odds are against them.

Another issue dealing with the security systems is the economic impact of years of destitution suffered by the bulk of the Russian army. From where would they draw the personnel to man and manage these systems if not from the ranks of this destitute soldiery. 30,000 personnel are necessary to do the job under the present circumstances. The odds of a hand full of bad eggs among those 30,000 is tremendous and the reward for successfully acquiring a single nuclear warhead, or even the fissile material necessary to make a nuclear devise, is equally as great. No doubt someone could retire to some French villa and live out his life in relative luxury after successful completion of such a task.

Even if the Russian Federation suddenly came into some exorbitant amount of money to upgrade and completely modernize the storage facilities and security systems, plus compensate those 30,000 troops sufficiently to dissuade them from wanting to risk certain death for trying to steal a nuclear warhead, the infrastructure for transportation, protection while in transit, and temporary storage of the arsenal is certainly as old, decrepit and vulnerable as the permanent facilities and systems currently in use. The rail lines, rail cars, trucks and other vehicles, procedures, routes, etc., are by no means sophisticated and the material would be exponentially more vulnerable to outside interference in the process of relocation and temporary storage than it would be by leaving it in those dilapidated storage bunkers. That’s not even mentioning the increased risk of accident by putting a dozen nuclear warheads on an old rail car, on old rail lines, using old equipment, guarding it with destitute soldiers using old firearms. The recipe for disaster is clear.

The Russian Federation, although now much better off than it was 10 years ago, is still in comparative dire economic straits and likely lacking the resources and the will to fully secure those thousands of nuclear warheads. The United States has in the past provided assistance in this regard and may continue do so but the probability of U.S. resources going to buy some Russian general a retirement home on the Black Sea or a yacht in the Mediterranean is very high. The problem then goes unsolved but the necessity is still very great if the interests of the West are to be protected. Much more attention ought to be paid to the Russian nuclear stockpile and its circumstances in order to insure the security of the this vast nuclear arsenal.

Read about Russia's Missing Briefcase Nukes

Is Kim Jong-Ill?

Little Kim Jong-il uses bribery and tantrums to maintain his hold on North Korea. His recent outbursts may have been a very deliberate attempt to bolster his waning grasp on power by guaranteeing his minuscule self a further supply of gifts for his inner elite. By the United States and the others providing the agreed upon subsidies, his insignificant autocracy will persist and the problem of North Korea will be handed off to the next generation of world leaders.

His birth was foretold by a pigeon or some other lovely little bird. Much like Jesus, a new star appeared in the heavens to mark the birth of the great Kim Jong-il, and upon his birth, like a little leprechaun, a double rainbow happily danced above the blessed mountain where Kim took his first wee breaths. We idolize and worship you, Kim Jong-il, or so he would expect. Kim was the first son of a Korean refugee, the captain of a Soviet Rifle brigade made up of Chinese and Korean refugees in the Russian Far East.

Following the close of WWII Jong-il’s father, Kim Il-sung, returned to Pyongyang from the Soviet Union. Backed by the Soviets, Il-sung became the leader of the Provisional People’s Committee, and later through purges, intrigue, and assassinations, he became the head of the Communist Party in the Korean north. Later, when the Soviets established the new state of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (otherwise known as North Korea), the older Kim was appointed Prime Minister. Kim the younger took the reigns following his deified father’s death.

The miraculously born despot has a few apparent phobias including pteromerhanophobia - fear of flying (he travels by armored train), migrusiphobia - fear of being small of stature (he stands 5’3” tall), and athazagoraphobia - fear of being forgotten or ignored (his face and image are on display in every venue in North Korea). Kim Jong-il also has serious problems keeping his vast masculinity under control. The miniature dictator has fathered several children within his several marriages, and fathered several more by numerous mistresses, lovers and secretaries.

Kim’s modest regime stays afloat by the means of its criminal enterprise. As a result of sanctions on his country, Kim engages in the illegal trades of drugs and weapons, extensive money laundering, and counterfeiting, and several other endeavors of a questionable nature. His people starve to death by the millions (more than 2 million to be more precise) and he uses his illicit income to garner support from his military elite. These Kim pays off with imported (or smuggled) food items, liquors, automobiles, prostitutes, homes, income, etc.

Suspicions are rising in the larger outside world that Kim’s hold on power may be, or may have been, in jeopardy. For this reason he recently provoked world indignation by launching missiles and detonating nuclear devices (size doesn’t matter). Such acts, some suspect, were aimed directly at obtaining further financial and material subsidies from the world outside his little micro-cosmos. Recently, the world succumbed to the mounting pressure to deal with the mini-man and proffered many thousands of tons of supplies in all varieties, heavy fuel oil being chief among them. Although Kim may be backed into a corner regarding his hold on power and his people's lack of basic sustenance in his miniature far east, he may have won out once again against the world at large in his efforts to maintain his cult of personality. The reality is that by giving him the subsidies he is looking for, it is the world that is sustaining his iron grip on power, rather than his commanding physique.

Institutionalized Hindu Bigotry

At the dregs of the Hindu caste system is the social class known as Dalit, or sometimes called the “Untouchables” (because people of upper castes cannot even touch them without becoming defiled themselves). Considered untouchable by the remainder of society, the Dalits are unclean and incapable of becoming clean. They are regarded as impure and are prohibited from participating in any sort of religious experience as their mere presence would utterly defile the rite. This soul-stench and the very system of caste segregation itself are propagated and endorsed by Indian society’s religious staple, Hinduism. They are excluded from education and prohibited from seeking other means of self improvement. They are societal slaves, broken peoples, large segments of the population who have traditionally had no rights. These Dalits make up a little less than 20 percent of India’s population.

The Dalits are not a racial, ethnic, or religious minority, rather they are of the same race as any other Indian. Their discrimination and cultural inferiority is merely a product of their ancestry. The Dalit have been the bottom feeders of Indian society for several thousand years.

Institutionalized discrimination against the Dalits has been largely eliminated from the books but the caste still suffers from extreme and violent persecution at the hands of other societal entities. Much like the African American population following the American Civil War, the discrimination of Dalits has been banned in the code of law but it carries on in every sector of society, with the official exception of governmentally affiliated elements such as education, public services, etc. Of course this is only on paper. The official doctrine of discrimination is no longer there but the minds of people are difficult to change.

Crime against Dalits goes largely unpunished. Officially only 2 percent of all crimes against Dalits is prosecuted to the full extent. Rarely is a perpetrator punished. In all, 50,000 to 100,000 heinous and violent crimes against Dalits are reported every year including murder, violence against families, rape of women, burning of Dalit homes and neighborhoods, child labor and slavery, and kidnapping and trafficking of girls and women, generally for sex trade purposes and prostitution. The culture and society of the caste system has been thousands of years in the making and the mindset of the people of India is steeped in thousands of years of entrenched and impermeable tradition.

The persecution persists. The lower level castes in Indian society (castes including Dalit but not exclusive to it) make up 67 percent of India’s population and are fighting for representation and their rightful share in government. Their numbers are troubling and intimidating to the elite and those lower castes are beginning to feel their strength in numbers. Upper castes have lobbied government officials and branches of government with money and power to institutionalize the caste system and to insure the perpetuation of their place in society. This discrimination and institutionalization has been compared to Apartheid in South Africa. The international community and many various NGOs have and are fighting against the introduction of laws institutionalizing discrimination.

Although discrimination and broad ranging persecution of majority peoples in many parts of the world has largely departed public awareness, it persists and festers in densely populated areas where vast shares of the world’s population reside. A simple awareness of the prosperous circumstances which exist in the West resides, as compared to the rest of the world, would go a long way to waking up the West as to how good they really have it and alleviating such far reaching human tragedy.

Caliphate - A Would-be Disaster

Occasionally the western media will bring up the word “Caliphate” and suggest that the War on Terror is ultimately necessary to prevent the Islamic world from establishing a global, fundamentalist, Islamic state. The notion of a Caliphate as understood by westerners generally (although I suspect many don’t understand it at all) is an Islamic state where Shari’a, or Islamic Law, would be the sole source of political philosophy.

Directly translated from Arabic, a Caliphate simply implies “succession,” or the line of authority from the prophet Mohamed. According to Islamic tradition, Islam will one day cover the whole earth and the whole earth will be one big Islamic utopia. This utopia would be a Caliphate. Of course, the definition of the word utopia, in this sense, remains open to interpretation.

The Caliphate is a philosophical term which implies either a state, or the office of Mohamed’s successor. As frequently understood in either western or Islamic society, it is a legitimate Middle Eastern Islamic state which began soon after the death of the prophet Mohamed by dynastic descent, with the ascension of his father-in-law, Abu-Bakr, to the position of supreme religious authority, and continued until the early 1920s when the center of power was the Ottoman Empire. At that time, the Caliphate was dissolved by Ataturk and the government of Turkey reorganized into a secular state. Since that time, the Caliphate has technically ceased to exist.

Many Muslims in the Middle East, as well as elsewhere in the world, believe in and look forward to the resurgence of the Caliphate, when everyone will convert to Islam and the world will be cloaked with peace and prosperity. Depending on which Muslims you listen to, this new Caliphate may be a utopia for any and all who live within its bounds, or it may be a police state where non-Muslims are considered second class citizens. Moderate Muslims believe the Caliphate will be all inclusive and will not regard distinctions of any kind whether religious, racial, sexual, economic, etc. Supposedly, there will be special rights to protect non-Muslims from Muslim discrimination and persecution.

More hard-line Muslims are of the opinion that under the Caliphate, non-Muslims would be required to pay taxes which Muslims are not required to pay, would be prohibited from certain economic rights, such as business operation and ownership, land ownership, etc., and may be required to convert to Islam or face some sort of corporeal consequence.

Of course, the conflict between the two variances lies in the facts. Never has any Muslim government been astonishingly successful at any of the ideals mentioned. Equality of all under the law, freedom from oppression and persecution, the ability to say what’s on one’s mind without the fear of some sort of institutionalized retribution, all these things are idealized in the Caliphate but no Islamic state comes to mind where these things are even insinuated as being standard.

Obviously there are many examples of floundering Islamic governments but two good examples of Islamic influence in government are Turkey and Iran. Turkey, although officially a democratic state, faces constant resurgences of Islamic militancy and broadly supported efforts to over throw the secular government to replace it with an Islamic one. Turkey, as described by the Human Rights Watch, is a facade of western leaning politicians resting on a foundation of corruption, religious persecution, police sanctioned violence against minorities, constant and recurring armed conflict between government forces and militantly extremist minority groups, and ultimately Islamic extremism struggling to exert its influence in a troubled secular state.

The second example, Iran, is an avowedly Islamic state where there is no end to the contradiction between the above described utopia and the reality. Unlawful imprisonment and torture of political opposition, imprisonment and execution of men caught in or accused of homosexual behavior, general oppression of women, institutionalized religious persecution of any religious minority, even minority Muslim groups, prohibition of education to ethnic and religious minorities, etc. all occur on a consistent and massive scale inside Iran. The bigotry is thoroughly and unequivocally endorsed by the current extremist leaders of Iran.

The moderate Muslims outside the sphere of the Middle East who perpetually endeavor to reassure the west that Islam in general and specifically Muslim dominance in world affairs would be supremely beneficial to the world community would do well to cease their efforts to indoctrinate the west on the virtues of the Caliphate, and focus their energies instead on convincing those in their own part of the world on the virtues of basic human rights and the value of common human existence.

I am no Islamic scholar and perhaps Islamic law would indeed be the ultimate form of global governance, but the facts speak for themselves. Why would any westerner begin to assume such a farce when the whole of the Muslim world cannot even get a grip on how appropriately to govern itself?

Election 2008: Joe Biden (D)

Foreign Policy: Energy is key to our foreign policy. Focus more on Africa. Enlarge NATO.

Iraq: Sectarian civil war. First favored, now opposes OIF. Keep Iraq unified. Withdraw most U.S. troops by end of 2007. Propose a plan for each sector (Shia, Sunni, Kurd) to share in oil revenues. Give incentives to permit Sunnis, Shias and Kurds to pursue their interests peacefully. Deal with unemployment in Iraq. Rebuild infrastructure. Deal with sectarianism.

War on Terror: Islam is not terrorism. Civilian contracts in Iraq & Afghanistan suspicious.

Taxes: Repeal tax cuts for wealthy ($1mil/year). Favors estate tax & capital gains tax. Opposes marriage penalty. No internet sales tax. Tax the rich. Give tax breaks to the poor & middle class.

Social Security: No lock-box. Give social security to illegal immigrants.

Trade: Open trade with Vietnam/China. Free trade with some, not others. Expand free trade in undeveloped countries.

Government: Favors line-item veto. Balance the budget. Favors campaign finance reform. No soft money. No gifts from lobbyists. No campaign contributions from unions or corporations.

Immigration: Permit more legal immigration. Favors guest worker & path to citizenship programs. Give illegal immigrants Social Security and welfare.

Homeland Security: Reauthorize Patriot Act. Homeland is not secure. More resources are needed. Implement 9/11 commission report recommendations. Favors national missile defense. Implement Homeland Security Trust Fund. Close more military bases. Invest in law enforcement. Restrict business linked to terrorism. Favors nuclear test ban.

Economy: Favors unions. Jobs are critical to America's success. America must compete globally. The economy must change to accommodate global changes. Raise the minimum wage. Favors climate change treaty – developing economies need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Opposes tax subsidies for off-shore corporations. Subsidize farming industry. Restrict personal bankruptcy.

Education: Education is key if America wants to compete globally. Every American should have access to higher education. Opposes school vouchers. Increase tax deductions for tuition. Expand government grants and student loan accessibility. Start high school students early applying and saving for college. Utilize technology to improve the systems. Favors education over corporations. Favors smaller class sizes. Opposes private tutors. Favors national education standards.

Health Care: Provide health care for the millions of Americans who don’t already have it. Health care costs American companies while their competitors abroad don’t bear these costs. Contain the costs of health care. Permit re-importation of prescription drugs. Favors self-employed health care tax deductions. Modernize & simplify the system. Reduce errors. System should be uniform; records, claims, billing, etc. Most vulnerable in society first.

Welfare: Revamp welfare system.

Abortion: Favors abortion. Opposes partial-birth abortion.

Civil Rights: Favors gay marriage. Sexual orientation should be included in criteria for hate crimes. Favors stricter gun control. Favors affirmative action. Favors national sex-offender registry. Favors gays in military.

Energy: Pursue energy independence. Pursue renewable and alternative sources of energy, bio-fuels, solar, hydrogen & wind energy, etc. Reduce oil consumption. Increase efficiency. Opposes oil drilling in ANWR.

Compare Joe Biden's views with:

Rudy Giuliani
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John McCain
John Edwards
Mitt Romney
Bill Richardson
Sam Brownback
Newt Gingrich

Election 2008: Newt Gingrich (R)

Foreign Policy: Broaden our global reach in combating terror. Iran and nuclear terror are issues of paramount importance. Favors regime change in Iran. Information warfare on Iran (radio, television, internet). Support pro-Western governments with financing, arms and trade. U.S. military is overextended. Take the lead in information. Bolster and utilize U.S. intelligence assets abroad. Opposes Kyoto Protocol. U.S. troops under U.S. command in U.N.

Iraq: Iraq is a problem. Strategy is a mess.

War on Terror: War on Terror could last 30 – 70 years (like the cold war - a war of ideologies). Will be long and difficult, but must be waged. Maintain a strong military.

Taxes: Cut taxes. Tax incentives for space enterprise. Change tax structure to give our corporations the edge around the world. No off-shore taxing. Support families. Tax breaks for raising wages and creating jobs. Eliminate marriage tax. Cut taxes for middle class.

Social Security: Stop spending social security funds and prohibit future social security spending. Permit private savings accounts.

Trade: Opposes protectionism. Favors free trade. Compete with China and India.

Government: Republicans need a change of direction. Favors line-item veto. Quit over-spending. Balance the budget. Cut taxes. Government is typically cumbersome and inefficient. Favors term limits in congress. Transform education, taxation, regulation, litigation, environmental and health policies to favor corporations as they try to compete abroad. Put God back in the public arena.

Immigration: Secure the border. Open borders are a grave national security concern. Improve immigration procedures. Immigrants should learn to be American. Enforce current immigration laws and policies. Punish employers that employ illegal immigrants. Educate in English. Integrate legal immigrants.

Homeland Security: Secure the border.

Economy: Incentives, incentives, incentives. Economy and environment go hand in hand. Support corporations in their efforts to compete globally.

Education: Improve and strengthen education. Use college level courses and college instructors in high school classes. Schools and teachers should compete with each other. No free ride. Our quality of life depends on the education we give our children. Favors prayer in schools. Teach children in schools how to be patriots.

Health Care: Favors the free market in health care. Favors health savings accounts.

Welfare: Improve opportunity for poor. Limit welfare to 2 years.

Abortion: Opposes abortion.

Civil Rights: Opposes gay marriage. Favors death penalty. Opposes gun control.

Energy: Conserve. Use technology to develop alternative energy sources. Utilize renewable energy sources. Develop oil reserves in an environmentally responsible fashion. Favors developing ANWR for oil drilling.

Compare Newt Gingrich's views with:

Rudy Giuliani
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John McCain
John Edwards
Mitt Romney
Bill Richardson
Sam Brownback
Joe Biden

Terms You'll Want to Know for the 2008 Presidential Election

Affirmative Action: Actions taken by the government or some private entity to counteract the results of past discrimination in social, economic and educational arenas. For example, If a person owns a business in a largely minority town and everyone that works for that person is caucasian, he/she could be prosecuted for not having a balance of employees at least somewhat reflective of the local demographic.

ANWR (Ann-waar) – Alaska National Wildlife Refuge: The area along Alaska’s northern coastal plain where a mother load of oil is waiting to be harvested. A huge debate rages between environmentalists on the left and "Big Oil" men on the right about whether or not to open the pristine nature reserve to oil drilling and development.

CAFE (Kaff-ee) – Corporate Average Fuel Economy: MPG. The standard the federal government uses to insure conservative fuel consumption in passenger cars and light trucks.

CAFTA (Kaff-ta) – Central American Free Trade Agreement: A free trade agreement between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States.

Charter School: A school funded by tax dollars but which is exempt from abiding by regulations and standards which govern ordinary public schools. Charter schools are often regulated by a board of parents and do not necessarily require a teacher to have a degree associated with the field in which they teach, and sometimes, don't require a degree at all.

CNTBT – Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: A treaty between 44 nations which, at the time of its inception, possessed either nuclear weapons or nuclear energy capability. It contains a comprehensive ban on nuclear detonations. Created in 1996, this treaty has still not been ratified by several participating states, and therefore is of no effect to any. The treaty will take effect 180 days following the ratification of the last participant.

FTA – Free Trade Agreement: An agreement between two or more states (countries) outlining the basis on which they will trade for each other’s goods and services at no cost, i.e. no tariffs, border fees, or any other type of non-tariff barrier.

GATT (Gatt) – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Predecessor to the WTO. A loosely constructed agreement between many states (countries) founded on principles of free, or quazi free, trade, monetary policy, economic security, etc. GATT was intended to counteract the effects of protectionism and depression which followed the stock market crash of 1929 and the economic problems created by WWII.

HMO – Health Maintenance Organization: Any number of health service providers which are not insurance companies. An HMO is frequently a conglomerate of doctors, hospitals, and health care providers that band together to provide strength in numbers.

Kyoto Protocol: An amendment to the U.N. Convention on Climate Change which sets forth mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol must be ratified by member states. Many states already abide by the restrictions but many others don’t. Some member states haven’t ratified it but still abide by the restrictions.

Medicaid: A federally subsidized program intended to provide medical care to the poor, to those who do not qualify for Medicare, and to those who can’t otherwise afford health care.

Medicare: A federally subsidized program intended to provide medical care to the disabled and the elderly who can’t otherwise afford health care.

NAFTA (Naff-ta) – North American Free Trade Agreement: The free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. It guarantees the free trade of goods and investment between these states without any restriction by means of tariffs or other non-tariff barriers.

NATO (Nay-toe) – North Atlantic Treaty Organization: 26 member countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. Originally began as a hedge against hostile Soviet action following WWII. Since the 1990s it has become more a mini-military-UN.

OEF – Operation Enduring Freedom: The official name of “The War in Afghanistan”.

Off-shore Company: A company which sets up its base of operations in a country which does not extensively tax said company. That company then does a majority of its business in a different country (the United States). That way, all that income will be taxed based on where it has its base of operations and the company avoids paying the high taxes of the country where it does the majority of its business. Often the company’s base of operations office is no more than a hole in the wall but because it calls that place its base of operations it gets to avoid all the taxation associated with the country where it does most of its business. In these cases, most of the operations occur in the country of business.

OIF – Operation Iraqi Freedom: The official name of “The Iraq War”.

OPEC (O-peck) – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries: Members include Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. OPEC is an oil cartel which has a large impact on the price of oil due to its large market share.

PAC (Pak) – Political Action Committee: A political group not directly associated with a political party but with some special interest group, such as educators or farm workers. A PAC raises money for and endorses specific political candidates for public office. Many politicians operate PACs as well and raise money that way for their own political purposes. These PACs will not only donate to their own campaigns but to their political allies as well.

Pork (Barrel): Spending by the government that is of little use to anyone, anywhere except in a very localized municipality somewhere. For example, some congressperson wants money to restore a deteriorating library in a politically important town in his/her constituency. Every congressperson has one (a pork project) and nobody wants theirs to be eliminated so they all vote for everyone else’s in order to keep their own. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Tit-for-tat. Quid-pro-quo. None of it is good for the nation as a whole and a huge majority of it should be dealt with by the local authorities and local tax dollars, but since politicians generally lack integrity, they choose to do what is best for them rather than what is best for the United States as a whole.

SDI – Strategic Defense Initiative: Sometimes called Star Wars, sometimes called Missile defense. The not yet fully developed or reliable concept of shooting down incoming missiles using modified Patriot type missiles. The concept requires very advanced identification, tracking, and targeting systems that are not yet more than 50% reliable in test runs. The program is very expensive and whether it is worth the expense is much debated since there are only a few remaining nations that have the ability to launch a missile at the United States.

Soft Money: Money contributed to political parties to finance party operations but not to support specific candidates for public office. Often used as an umbrella term encompassing any money contributed to candidates for public office which is ethically questionable in origin and purpose. For example, a Senator from Kansas who perpetually favors oil drilling in ANWR receiving large campaign contributions from wealthy oil companies, or a Senator from Wyoming receiving large contributions from the NRA (National Rifle Association) who consistently favors unfettered gun access.

U.N. – United Nations: 192 Member States. Headed by the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, of South Korea. World security stops with the Security Council, a board with 5 permanent members which include the United States, China, France, United Kingdom and Russia, and 10 rotating seats which are elected by the U.N. General Assembly for 2 year terms, 5 of which are replaced annually.

Vouchers: Money given to parents by the government to enable them to send their children to a school of their choice, rather than to the public school which they would ordinarily attend. The debate is over whether the money would be better spent improving the existing public education system.

WTO – World Trade Organization: The successor organization of GATT (GATT was only an agreement, this is an actual organization). The WTO has 150 member states and promotes free and fair trade on a global scale. The WTO is often associated with globalization, the ideal being a world where no tariffs exist, nor non-tariff barriers. The WTO has been the brunt of many protest campaigns aimed at protectionism and protecting local and regional trade. In many instances free trade hurts local economies as that business can be obtained for less somewhere else in the world. Many local economies have been and will be hurt by globalization and the WTO. Others will be greatly benefited. The term comparative advantage is critical. Comparative advantage is the idea that each area should produce what it is most efficient at producing, and buy everything else from those who are best at producing everything else.

Election 2008: Sam Brownback (R)

Foreign Policy: Fight for human rights globally. Protect innocent life at home and abroad. U.N. = lofty ideals + poor execution. U.S forces under U.S. command in U.N. Bear less of the U.N. burden. Expand NATO.

Iraq: Favored OIF. Situation in Iraq is precarious. Turn Iraq over to its people. Voted “No” on redeploying troops out of Iraq by mid 2007.

War on Terror: Islam is not terrorism.

Taxes: Reform tax code. Lower taxes. Opposes all tax increases. Favors flat tax rate for all. Permanently repeal the estate tax. Cut taxes on capital gains and dividends. Favors marriage tax. Opposes increasing deductions for college tuition.

Social Security: Social Security is in crisis. Give Social Security to illegal immigrants. Keep our commitment to retirees. Modernize the Socail Security System. Favors lock-box. Favors personal retirement accounts.

Trade: Favors free trade all around. Trade with China at all cost (even if they are selling weapons to our enemies).

Government: Balance the budget. Pay down the national debt. Reduce spending. Allow lobbyist gifts to congress. Allow soft money. Allow campaign contributions from unions and corporations. Opposes campaign finance reform. Favors big business.

Immigration: Favors guest worker and path to citizenship programs. Opposes welfare for immigrants. Permit more immigration.

Homeland Security: Voted for Patriot Act. Favors missile defense. Opposes nuclear test ban. Favors chemical weapons. Opposes restrictions on companies with links to terrorism. Opposes more base closures. Opposes federal financing for first responders.

Economy: Favors outsourcing. Favors restricting personal bankruptcy. Opposes minimum wage hike. Anti-union.

Education: More students need high quality education. Choice in education crucial. Fix the achievement gap. Reform failing schools. Favors corporations over education. Favors private tutors. Opposes smaller class sizes. Favors school vouchers.

Health Care: HMOs over patients. Brownback pretty much opposes anything having to do with health care, public health, tax deductions for health care costs, etc. Brownback favors Social Darwinism when it comes to health care.

Welfare: Opposes welfare for immigrants.

Abortion: Opposes abortion.

Civil Rights: Opposes gay marriage. Opposes sexual orientation inclusion in hate crimes. Pro-guns. Enforce current gun laws. Favors death penalty. Favors wiretapping.

Energy: America in energy crisis. Energy demand outpaces supply. Reduce oil consumption. Utilize technology and renewable fuels. Favors energy independence. Favors opening ANWR to oil drilling. Opposes reduction in fuel efficiency standards. Favors removal of fuel efficiency standards. Favors renewable and solar energy.

Compare Sam Brownback's views with:

Rudy Giuliani
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John McCain
John Edwards
Mitt Romney
Bill Richardson
Newt Gingrich
Joe Biden

Election 2008: Bill Richardson (D)

Foreign Policy: Restore world respect and U.S. reputation abroad. Tough/smart foreign policy. Strong military. Promote freedom, alleviate poverty and stop global warming.

Iraq: Get us out of Iraq. Our presence in Iraq is no longer helping. Iraqis should be responsible for their own security. Engage neighbors and allies in Iraq. Rebuild Iraq. Create jobs for Iraqis (40% unemployment).

War on Terror: Number one challenge – defeat terrorism.

Taxes: Opposed sales tax on food (NM).Tax credits for businesses that create jobs. Tax credits for high tech startups. Cut taxes for middle class. Tax big corporations. Restructure tax code.

Social Security: Illegal immigrants pay Social Security, let them collect it.

Trade: Trade with Mexico. Favors free trade/NAFTA.

Government: Washington is broken. Return to bipartisanship. Balance the budget. Responsible spending. Ideological warfare – bad. Favor minorities with government contracts. Eradicate waste & fraud.

Immigration: Crack down on illegal activity. Protect our citizens. Illegal immigrants should pay taxes and learn English. Secure the border. U.S. is a country of immigrants. Reform immigration policy. Increase legal immigration. Path to citizenship. No right to citizenship for illegal children. No fence. Increase border patrol.

Homeland Security: Mexican border a state of emergency. No missile defense. Fight base closures.

Economy: Economy should work for the middle class. Create well paying jobs. Create high tech jobs.

Education: Increase teacher pay. Favors charter schools. Opposes vouchers. Divert funds from administration to the classroom. Increase teacher standards. Banned junk food in public schools (NM). Give 7th graders laptops.

Health Care: Quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Help seniors with prescription drug costs. Assist children, working families, small businesses get affordable health care. Immunize children. Include mental health and substance abuse therapy.

Welfare: Non governmental charities. Higher tax deductions for charitable contributions.

Abortion: Favors abortion. Favors partial-birth abortion.

Civil Rights: Favors civil unions. Favors gays in the military. Favors affirmative action. Favors death penalty. Loves guns.

Energy: Stop global warming. Energy independence. Renewable energy sources. Improve fuel efficiency standards. Develop alternative energies: wind & solar.

Compare Bill Richardson's views with:

Rudy Giuliani
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John McCain
John Edwards
Mitt Romney
Sam Brownback
Newt Gingrich
Joe Biden